Start of an Adventure
by GryffindorCriss
Summary: "It has long been foretold that two Sons of Adam and three Daughters of Eve will defeat the White Witch and restore peace to Narnia." Peter/OC
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: It starts with the scene from the film where the Pevensies are evacuated, but in the long run I'll try to use moments from both the books and the films; I've only opened with the scene from the movie because the book starts with them at the Professor's house where they play hide-and-seek. I've also started with the Pevensies because although this is an OC story, I wanted all of the children to be equal; after all, LWW is about the Pevensies, and so I didn't just want to focus on the OC while ignoring them.**

 **Also, it won't be instant romance; they're children, Peter included as he's fifteen in this fic, so is the OC, Susan is thirteen, Edmund is eleven and Lucy is eight (I think I heard that they were these ages in the film somewhere in a making-of special I watched as a kid). To write an instant "fall-in-love instantly" moment from the very start is just…no.**

 **Anyway, enjoy!**

 **This prologue was written years ago and has been revised but not beta-read or anything :) The first chapter was originally up to the end of the children's first night in the house but I extended it a bit to make it more interesting!**

* * *

Chapter One

The train station was flooded with families that morning, with parents tearfully bidding farewell to their children; there were many tears from the younger ones, those too young to really understand, and they clung to their parents, whilst the older ones promised their parents to behave, to look after their younger siblings and stay out of trouble. Of those children, four of them were the Pevensie siblings: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy. None of them wanted to leave home, but there was no choice for their mother had arranged for them to be evacuated – she would miss them dearly, but it was a decision she had made to keep them safe from the bombs being dropped on London, from the war.

"You need to keep this on, darling. Alright?"

Lucy just looked morose as her mother fussed with her coat, attaching a label with her name and destination. All of the children in the station were wearing them, and for some reason it made her think of luggage.

"Are you warm enough?" Mrs Pevensie asked, and when Lucy gave a small nod she smiled weakly. "Good girl." With that, she moved to start attaching Edmund's label to his jacket.

Edmund, meanwhile, had been looking around the station with an unpleasant look on his face. "If Dad were here, he wouldn't make us go," He muttered, and he couldn't help but feel angry at his mother; it wasn't fair that they had to leave, at least not to him – how could their mother force them to do this?

His older brother, Peter, glared at him half-heartedly. "If Dad were here, it would mean that the war was over and we wouldn't _have_ to go."

"You will listen to your brother, won't you, Edmund?" Mrs Pevensie fretted; she knew better than anyone that her sons had had some trouble getting along lately, particularly since their father had left.

Edmund looked at her but said nothing. Standing, she took his face into her hands and moved to kiss his cheek; he jerked away immediately, however, pulling a face. She sighed, knowing there was no use in forcing him, and instead turned to her eldest. Unlike his brother, he readily accepted her hug and squeezed her tightly.

"Promise me you'll look after the others?"

"I will, Mum," He agreed, and his voice cracked slightly.

His mother pulled away and took him in properly, smiling weakly. "Good man."

 _Man_. As the eldest, he knew he had all the responsibility; if anything happened to his younger sisters and brother, it would immediately reflect on him. Peter suddenly felt rather overwhelmed by the thought – but he wouldn't let the others or their mother see it. No, he had to be strong for them, had to step up and be a man; he had promised his father he'd do so, after all.

"Susan…" Mrs Pevensie now turned to her oldest daughter, giving her a parting hug. Susan returned it, and her siblings could see that she was fighting back tears over their mother's shoulder. "Be a big girl, alright?"

Susan nodded quickly as they separated, sending their mother a reassuring smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. Looking around at the four of them, Mrs Pevensie had to brace herself.

"Alright…off you go."

The four children picked up their bags and began to make their way towards the train that was waiting by the platform. Peter felt Lucy grasping for his hand and, not wanting to lose her in the crowds, he immediately linked his fingers through hers and began to lead the way towards the nearest ticket collector. Behind them, he heard Edmund snap something along the lines of, "I know how to get on a train by myself!" and tried not to roll his eyes in frustration; for once, couldn't his brother just do as he was told?

Across the station, Peter noticed a young man – probably only a year or so older than himself – dressed in the unmistakable green soldier's uniform. It suddenly occurred to him that if he had only been a few years older – perhaps even just a few months older – then he'd be off fighting in the war too; the thought of being on the front line, holding a gun that he had no idea how to use, frightened him so much that he didn't hear the ticket collector asking for their tickets.

"Peter!" He heard Susan scold, and she suddenly snatched the papers from his hands before presenting them to the clerk.

The woman checked them over briefly before giving a nod. "Alright, on you go."

Peter nodded his thanks to her, still distracted, before leading his siblings towards the nearest carriage of the train. He could feel Lucy lagging, and from the corner of his eye he noticed her craning her head to try and look through the crowds – most likely for their mother.

"Come on, Lucy," He murmured to her quietly, leaning down to move his face closer to hers. "We have to stick together now." Her face crumped, as though she were about to cry, and he squeezed her hand tightly. "Everything's going to be alright…everything's going to be fine…"

They only just made it onto the train in time; as soon as they were all on-board, a whistle blew and the conductors on the platform began to shut the doors. Other children were stretching out their arms through the windows as the train started to move, pulling out slowly, and so Susan looked out of the window on the door to the carriage to see if their mother was nearby; the others did the same just moments later, squinting and searching the crowds.

She was waving goodbye to them, smiling sadly as she watched them go. The four children called out their final goodbyes to their mother as they waved back, even Edmund, who pushed at his siblings so he could see their mother one last time.

Once the train had picked up speed and their mother was no longer visible, Peter took Lucy's hand in his once more and turned to the other two children. "Come on, we should find somewhere to sit." Susan nodded in agreement whilst Edmund just looked at him unpleasantly, and so they headed off down the corridor in search of a compartment that wasn't too full.

Peeking through the sliding doors of each compartment, Peter noticed that one was only occupied by only three other people; two children who couldn't have been any older than Lucy, and a girl who was roughly his own age who was sitting and reading by the window. Deciding it was better than nothing, he pulled open the door and gestured for Lucy to go in first; she hesitated, only for Edmund to give her a harsh nudge to move.

Sending his younger brother a glare, Peter took Lucy's suitcase from her hand and reached to place it into the luggage rack above. As Lucy sat down, Edmund entered after her and roughly jerked away when his brother tried to take his bag; he gave Peter a glare before putting it onto the rack himself and taking a seat as far away from the other children as possible.

Out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw the teenage girl glance over at them with a mix of amusement and uncertainty. He sighed to himself, turning back to help Susan before taking his own seat; something told him that this was going to be a rather long and uncomfortable train journey.

* * *

The journey was relatively quiet once they had settled down; the other three children in the compartment made no effort whatsoever to bother the Pevensie siblings, with the two younger passengers looking out of the window and the older girl reading her book silently. It was only once the two young children got off at a stop an hour later and the train began to set off again that Lucy looked to the remaining stranger and decided to initiate some kind of polite conversation to pass the time – it would be far better than spending the rest of the journey bored.

Leaning forward in her seat, she gave the girl opposite her a curious look. "What are you reading?"

The girl looked up, rather surprised when she realized that Lucy – who was clearly the youngest in the compartment – had been the one to speak to her. "Oh… _Alice in Wonderland_."

Lucy lit up immediately. "I like that book!"

"Lucy." Peter gently put a hand on his sister's shoulder and sent the girl an apologetic look. "I'm sorry if she's bothering you…"

"No, it's fine. I've read this book before anyway, to be honest." She closed her book and turned back to the Pevensies, a small smile on her face. "Do you like to read then?"

Lucy nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, yes! Especially when the sun is out and you can sit beneath the trees…and I love the adventures best, stories about far off places!" She held out her hand and beamed. "I'm Lucy, Lucy Pevensie."

The girl took it hesitantly, though she did look somewhat amused. "Nice to meet you, I'm Eleanor Johnson."

"Have you read _The Wizard of Oz_?" Lucy asked immediately, and Eleanor shook her head. "You must, it's so wonderful! There's a girl named Dorothy, and she has a little dog called Toto, and…and there's munchkins, and a wizard – oh, and a cowardly lion! Our father reads books to me every night before bed, and…" Her face fell slightly. "He _used_ to, I mean. He's gone to fight, and we haven't seen him for a long time."

"Mine too," Eleanor said quietly. "I'm…I'm sure they'll be fine though." Her voice wasn't at all sure.

Lucy's short burst of enthusiasm seemed to have faded after remembering that her father was far away and fighting in the war, and she slumped back into her seat against Peter's side. There was a long moment of silence where no one else spoke, and then Eleanor quickly turned to gaze out of the window; Susan, being observant, noticed that her face had grown rather pink.

"Do you know whereabouts in the country you're headed?" Peter asked suddenly, clearly attempting to relieve the awkwardness that was present.

Eleanor nodded and tucked some hair behind her ear. "Yes. A professor, I think."

"We're going to live with a professor too," Lucy said, and she brightened slightly at the news. "Maybe it's the same one!"

"Maybe," Susan agreed thoughtfully. "But it's likely that there's more than one professor in the countryside too. I don't suppose you know what your professor is called?"

Eleanor looked to the label attached to her coat for confirmation before answering. "It says that his name is…Professor Kirke."

Lucy looked extremely pleased, and Susan simply smiled politely. "We're going to stay with Professor Kirke too; what a strange coincidence."

The other girl smiled back, somewhat awkwardly. "Yes, it is. At least we'll all know each other before we arrive, I suppose."

Maybe things wouldn't be so bad; with the exception of Edmund, who hadn't spoken a single word since the train had left the station, they all seemed to be getting along well enough. Besides, for all they knew, the war could be about to end – perhaps it would only last for another few weeks if they were fortunate. There were worse situations to be in.

For now, they could only hope that Professor Kirke would be at least somewhat kind.

* * *

Their stop consisted of a bare wooden platform and a hand-painted sign indicating the name of the station. In fact, it was so bare that it was completely empty; there was no one to be seen except for the five children themselves. After a few minutes of waiting, they heard the sound of a car horn beeping – it sounded rather close. Hurriedly picking up their bags, they ran down the steps to greet whomever was driving – only for the car to drive past, nearly splashing them with mud and leaving them all looking on in confusion.

Finally, Susan spoke. "The professor knew we were coming."

Edmund fiddled with the identification tag on his coat and squinted at it. "Perhaps we've been incorrectly labelled."

"All of us?" Eleanor asked, looking rather sceptical. He frowned rather unpleasantly.

Suddenly there was a sound from down the road; when they all turned to look, they saw that a pony and carriage were approaching them. Driving it was a rather stern looking woman, and when she pulled the horse to a stop in front of them, she looked down on the children in an almost disapproving way.

Sharing a brief look with Susan, Peter looked up at the woman uncertainly. "Mrs Macready?"

"I'm afraid so," The woman answered wryly, looking down at them and their luggage. "Is this it then? Haven't you brought anything else?"

"No, ma'am," Peter replied, and Lucy nodded in agreement. "It's just us."

"Small favours…alright, load your things and we'll go to the house. Quickly! I'm not waiting around all day!"

The five children hurried to do as she had said, placing their suitcases onto the carriage before clambering on; Lucy was too small to get up by herself, and so Peter lifted her up onto it easily before offering Susan, and then Eleanor, his hand to help them. Edmund ignored his brother's offer of help, and instead struggled to climb up by himself before Peter.

Seeing the seating arrangement, Edmund glared at his brother. "I'm not sitting next to you!" He hissed quietly, and then he turned his attention to his younger sister; she was sat towards the front of the carriage, opposite Eleanor, and he gave her a hard shove. " _Move_ , I want to sit at the front."

Peter looked as though he were about to snap at his brother, and so Susan hurriedly intervened. "Both of you, just sit down! It's just a seat!"

Casting a wary look at Mrs Macready, Eleanor shuffled over to make room for him. "You sit here then," She offered carefully. "I'll sit between you and Peter."

The following ride to the house was extremely quiet; all of the children were too nervous to say anything in front of the rather imposing woman who was driving the horse, and so they just took in the views of the countryside on the journey. It wasn't too long until they reached a large mansion; it seemed to loom over the children as they approached it, about three stories high and seemingly made of nothing but stone and glass windows.

Inside, the house seemed even bigger and more imposing; there were artefacts positioned even in the entrance hall as they walked through the doors, lead by Mrs Macready, and it was all they could do to take it in as she led them up a grand staircase.

"Professor Kirke is not accustomed to having children in this house," She began sternly. "And as such, there are a few rules you need to follow." She turned to face them. "There will be _no_ shouting, or running…no improper use of the dumbwaiter…"

Out of the corner of her eye, Eleanor saw Susan reach out to touch a rather curious looking bust of some kind; intrigued, she moved closer so that she could get a better look at it for herself-

"NO! Touch _none_ of the historical artefacts!"

Both girls jumped, quickly turning to look at Mrs Macready as she glared at them furiously. Peter and Edmund both had to hide their grins; for them, it was a rare sight to see their sister being told off, particularly for something like this.

After a moment, Mrs Macready started to lead them up the stairs once more. "And above all," She continued, her tone rather firm and final. "There shall be no disturbing of the Professor."

The children were then shown to their rooms; despite the fact that it seemed to be a large house, and that there were more than enough rooms for them to have one each, the girls were to share one room while the boys shared a further one down the hall. Edmund looked annoyed at having to share with Peter, but he said nothing – he couldn't while the housekeeper was there – and so he settled for glowering at the floor instead.

"Girls are to sleep in one room, and boys in the other," Mrs Macready instructed severely. "You are to stay in your rooms when asked, particularly when there are guests coming to view the house. Is that understood?"

They all nodded and murmured in agreement, not wanting to cause any trouble or risk receiving a scolding, and then they were left to unpack in their respective rooms. Each room, they found, had a small wardrobe and set of drawers for their clothes; the girls organised the wardrobe into sections for each of them and took a drawer each for remaining clothes, deciding that this was easiest and fair. The boys weren't nearly as organized, however, and Peter and Edmund soon found themselves having a rather heated argument over whose clothes were going where.

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Susan sighed when she entered their room and saw them fighting. "All you need to do is take half the wardrobe each for shirts and a drawer for trousers. It's so simple!"

By the time all of them finished unpacking, it was time for some tea; being in the middle of the war, there wasn't a great deal to eat, and they all found that they didn't really have large appetites anyway – perhaps it was from being in a strange house, or from leaving home, but food was the last thing on their minds that evening. Afterwards, Mrs Macready sent them to their rooms for bed; despite it being somewhat early in the evening still, they all agreed – if only to appease the caretaker – and returned to their rooms.

Peter, Susan and Eleanor, being older, were not accustomed to going to bed this early; Lucy was rather tired and so easy to convince to change into her nightclothes – Edmund, on the other hand, was not.

"I'm not a little child!" He snapped when Peter ordered him to change. "You can't force me!"

Peter straightened up. "I'm the oldest, and Mum left me in charge of you three – and I'm telling you to get ready for bed!"

"Ed, just do as he says," Susan tried to convince him, not wanting an argument to break out. "You don't have to go to sleep, just change."

There wasn't a great deal to do in their rooms, as they soon found out, though the girls' room did have small radio in it. Peter turned it on so that they could listen to it, taking a seat by the window and staring wistfully out at the darkness of the night; Susan had sat on her bed to listen along, not saying a word as she focused on the announcer's voice. Eleanor, meanwhile, had curled up in the chair by the radio, sat with her book in her lap; it was clear that she wasn't reading it, however, due to the fact that she hadn't turned a page. Edmund had left, supposedly to go to the lavatory (though he'd been gone a rather long time), and Lucy was in bed already – though she had yet to fall asleep.

As the newscaster began to talk about the bombings in London from the previous night, Susan suddenly stood and crossed the room to turn the radio off. Peter sent her a look while Eleanor lifted her head at the disturbance; Susan just tilted her head at her brother, gesturing to Lucy. Understanding, Peter gave a nod and jumped down from the window ledge to sit with their sister.

"The sheets feel scratchy," Lucy sniffed, looking up at him.

Susan came to stand at the bottom of the bed, trying to give her an encouraging smile. "Wars don't last forever Lucy," She told her optimistically. "We'll be home soon."

Edmund entered the room then, and he seemed to have caught on with the conversation as he muttered, "Yeah, if home's still _there_."

His older sister frowned at him. "Isn't it time you were in bed?"

"Yes, _Mum_ ," Edmund sneered mockingly.

"Ed!" Peter snapped, glaring harshly at their brother; the younger boy's smirk disappeared, his shoulders sinking slightly. Turning back to Lucy, Peter put a hand on her arm and gave it a squeeze. "You saw what it's like outside, Lu. This place is _huge_ – we can do whatever we want here." He smiled at her, and she managed a small one back. "Tomorrow's going to be great… Really."

* * *

When the children woke the next morning, however, it was raining – not drizzle or a light shower, but heavy rain that pelted down against the windows and made it impossible to see outside. It was all too clear that they were not going outside today – it seemed like their day would be long and boring after all.

The girls had woken up first, rather miserable after seeing the weather, and they decided that while the boys were still asleep they would get ready; they took turns in the bathroom down the hall to wash and get dressed – Susan and Lucy first, and then Eleanor. When she returned from the bathroom after her turn, Eleanor found the two sisters seemingly searching the room for something.

"Is everything alright?" She questioned.

"No, we're fine," Susan sighed. "Lucy can't find her teddy, that's all. It's probably still in her suitcase."

Lucy's bottom lip wobbled. "I took it to bed with me, I _know_ I did! I can't find it anywhere!"

"Oh. Well, I'll help you look," Eleanor decided after a moment of brief hesitation. "It can't have gone far, I'm sure."

That was how the boys found them when they entered the bedroom half an hour later; Lucy practically tearing apart her bedding and belongings, Susan looking in each of their bags, and Eleanor on her hands and knees on the floor to peek under the beds.

Peter laughed at the sight. "Something wrong?"

Susan rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, very funny. Lucy can't find her teddy bear, so we're searching for it… Where on Earth could it have gone? She says that she took it to bed last night, but it's just…disappeared!"

There was a moment, a beat of silence, and then the elder Pevensies turned to look at Edmund; he just looked between them, confused. "What?"

"Did you take her teddy, Edmund?" Peter asked, suddenly extremely annoyed.

The younger boy frowned. "No! Why would I want her stupid teddy?!"

"I swear, Edmund, if I find out that you're lying-"

"I'm not! I didn't take it!"

"If you took it, Ed, then we won't be angry," Susan told him, though Peter did already look extremely angry as it was. "If you just give it to us now, then we can pretend that it never happened."

Edmund glared at her, absolutely furious. "I didn't take her blasted teddy!" And he stormed out of the room, muttering under his breath.

Peter sighed and ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "Fine. Come on, we're going to be late for breakfast if we don't hurry – we'll find your teddy afterwards, Lu. Okay?"

Lucy nodded, wiping her eyes as she clambered off of her bed and out of the door. Susan gave Peter a look as she walked past him. "Do you think he took it?"

"This is Edmund – of course he did," Peter agreed as Eleanor stood up to follow them out of the door. "I'll search our room later; he's probably hidden it somewhere."

* * *

The rain continued through to the afternoon, much to their dismay, and so they found themselves in one of the sitting rooms after lunch and playing what could only be the most boring game ever invented.

Peter was sat in one of the armchairs, head thrown back and posture slack, while Edmund lay on the floor, looking very much like he was about to fall asleep at any moment. Susan and Eleanor sat on opposite ends of the sofa; Susan had an extremely large dictionary in her lap, and she was reading random words out of the dictionary – the other children had to guess what the definition was, or what language it originated from. Lucy was sat on the window seat, looking despondently out at the grounds through the rain pelting heavily as if trying to come up with an adventure or game to play, but to no avail.

" _Gastrovascular_ ," Susan read out slowly.

Peter closed his eyes and made a pained facial expression; Eleanor grinned when she saw it, pleased that it wasn't her word to define.

"Come on, Peter," Susan urged. "Gastrovascular."

Peter sighed, opening his eyes to give her an exasperated look. "Is it…Latin?"

Susan peered down at the giant tome in front of her. "Yes."

"Is it Latin for, 'worst game ever invented'?" Edmund quipped, sitting up as his mouth curled into a smirk. Peter tried and failed to contain his chuckle, and Eleanor had to bite her lip to contain a laugh.

Susan narrowed her eyes at them and slammed the book shut in disdain. "Excuse me for trying to give us something to do!"

"It's nice of you to try, Susan," Eleanor said, trying to be somewhat kind. "But, let's face it, it's a terrible game."

Lucy brightened up at the word, 'game', and she jumped down from the window seat. "Oh, I know - we could play hide-and-seek!" She suggested, going over to Peter.

Peter smirked slightly as his eyes slipped from Lucy to Susan. "But we're already having _so_ much fun." Susan glared at him, clearly hurt.

"Come on, Peter, please!" Lucy begged, and she stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. "Pretty please?"

It was obvious that Peter had somewhat of a soft spot for Lucy, because when he turned back to her he had begun to grin in submission. "One…two…three…four…"

Lucy beamed when he began counting and immediately ran for the door so that she could find a good place to hide; Edmund gave a groan in protest but it was ignored by everyone. Susan rolled her eyes but immediately got up and left the room, Eleanor following close behind and accidentally brushing past Peter as she left.

The house was so large that there were more than enough places to hide – it was just a matter of finding the best one. Susan found a trunk in one of the corridors that was just about large enough for her to fit inside of, and when she shut the lid there was no indication that she was hiding inside of it whatsoever. Eleanor pulled open the first door she saw; it led to a room full of unused furniture, all covered in sheets, and so she crawled underneath the nearest table.

Edmund and Lucy, meanwhile, began to argue over who was to hide beneath a curtain.

"I was here first!" Edmund snapped at his younger sister, shoving her out of the way.

Lucy made a face at him before setting off down the hallway once more; in the distance she could hear Peter counting still, now at eighty. If she didn't hurry, then she would be without a hiding place and lose. Turning the corner and into another corridor, she began to try the doors; the first was locked when she tried to open it, so she tried the next one in the hopes that it might have been left unlocked.

 _Yes!_

Lucy practically fell into the room and closed the door behind her quickly; when she turned, she was amazed to see that the room was almost empty.

Almost empty, that was, except for a large wooden wardrobe.

* * *

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the wait – I've been trying to edit and make it the absolute best it can be, and it's taken longer than anticipated!**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Ninety-eight, ninety-nine…one-hundred! Ready or not, here I come!"

Peter uncovered his eyes and bounded out of the room, eager to find the others; he had played hide-and-seek with his younger siblings back home, and as such he knew all of the best places for hiding in their house as well as which spots Susan, Edmund and Lucy favoured the most.

He wasn't familiar with this house, however, and he had no idea on where Eleanor might choose to hide for that matter – this could be a tad more challenging than he thought.

Turning a corner and entering another corridor, Peter noticed that there was a door that had been left only half-closed – as if someone had rushed into the room and forgotten to close it properly. He smiled to himself triumphantly and pushed the door wide open, making sure to be quiet so as to not alert whomever it was of his presence.

 _Let's see,_ He thought to himself. _Where would I hide? Chairs…sofa…the table!_

Peter quietly stepped towards the table and put a hand on the cloth that was covering it; in a flash he pulled it away and ducked his head to see that he'd just found Eleanor.

He grinned at her, offering her his hand to help her up. "Got you."

She smiled back and took the offered hand gratefully. "Yes, well done. Not the best hiding place, I'll admit. Shall I help you find the others?"

As they left the room, closing the door behind them, there was the sudden sound of raised voices. Peter grinned to himself knowingly, recognizing the voices immediately. "That's Lucy. Come on!"

They soon found that Lucy and Edmund were having some kind of argument – not only that, but neither of them were hiding, instead standing out in the open for all to see. They both turned when they heard the sound of footsteps, and Edmund groaned at the sight of their brother approaching.

"You know," Peter started wryly. "I don't think you two have quite got the idea of this game."

"But weren't you wondering where I was?" Lucy asked innocently.

"That's the point," Edmund explained impatiently, clearly exasperated as Susan appeared from the opposite end of the corridor. "That's why he was seeking you."

Susan looked between her two younger siblings, then at Eleanor, and finally at Peter. "Does this mean I win?"

"It would appear so," Eleanor agreed.

Peter frowned. "I don't think Lucy wants to play anymore."

Lucy looked incredulous. "But I've…I've been gone for hours." When none of the other four looked convinced, she pointed behind her. "I was in the wardrobe, and there was a forest and a faun and we had tea and…and I'll show you!"

Before any of them could argue otherwise, she had run off in the direction that she had gestured to.

* * *

All four of the older children searched the wardrobe while Lucy watched hopefully, examining it from top to bottom; it was a rather beautiful wardrobe, made of wood and rather old but decorated with intricate carvings. Despite its age, it was in near-perfect shape, and it was a wonder that it was locked away in a musty old room for no one to use or see. Inside hung a great number of fur coats, and when Susan pushed them to one side a mothball fell out from one of them and onto the floor. Edmund was looking behind the wardrobe, knocking on both the back of it and the wall to be sure that it was solid. Even both Peter and Eleanor were searching extensively, though they could find nothing of any forest or a faun.

This was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

"Lucy," Susan started slowly as she retreated from the wardrobe. "The only wood in here is the back of the wardrobe."

When Lucy looked aghast, Peter sighed. "One game at a time, Lu – we don't all have your imagination." He turned to leave, the others following close behind.

"But I wasn't imagining!" Lucy protested loudly, and they all turned back to her.

"That's enough, Lucy," Susan admonished tiredly.

The younger girl looked extremely close to tears. "I wouldn't lie about this!"

"Well…I believe you."

Everyone looked astonished as Edmund stepped forwards, though no one was more so than Lucy herself. "You…You do?" She asked, both confused and hopeful.

Edmund nodded. "Yeah, of course." He turned to the others, and they all suddenly realized that he was smirking. "Didn't I tell you about the football field in the bathroom cupboard?"

"Oh, will you just stop?" Peter said, exasperated, and his brother's smirk disappeared. "You just have to make everything worse, don't you?"

"It was just a joke!" Edmund defended.

The older boy rolled his eyes. "When are you going to learn to grow up?"

"SHUT UP!" Edmund snarled, and for a moment it looked like he was in tears himself. "You think you're Dad, but you're not!" He stormed out of the room, pushing past the girls aggressively.

After a moment of silence, Susan looked at the door in which Edmund had gone out of and back at Peter. "Well, that was nicely handled," She said sarcastically, and then she left the room too.

Lucy turned to Eleanor pleadingly but the older girl merely ducked her head. "I'm sorry, Lucy," She muttered, leaving the room.

"But…But it really was there," Lucy tried, extremely close to crying as she looked to her oldest brother.

Peter shook his head at her as he also turned to leave. "Susan's right, Lucy. That's enough."

* * *

The atmosphere between Lucy and the other children was tense and cold for the rest of the afternoon; none of them felt like playing anymore, and Lucy had immediately disappeared to the girls' bedroom to presumably have a cry at not being believed. It wasn't as if the others (with the exception of Edmund) didn't want to believe her, but they just couldn't; it would be wrong to lie and encourage those fantasies, even if she was only very young.

It was after midnight, and Lucy was still awake. From across the room she could hear Susan's even breathing, and even further down Eleanor was murmuring quietly in her sleep; this wasn't what was keeping her awake though. All she could think about was Narnia and Mr Tumnus, and the wonderful tea that they'd had together; she had so wished that the others believed her, because then they could have all had tea with Mr Tumnus and enjoyed themselves too.

Well, not anymore. If they didn't believe her, then that was just fine – she'd go by herself.

Lucy sat up in bed and bit her lip in thought; they were not to be out of bed after certain hours, and it was very dark now – there was no doubt that Mrs Macready and the Professor were in bed themselves too. Still, she needed to see for herself; she was so certain that she wasn't imagining it because it was so real. She could still remember the cold of the snowflakes in her eyelashes, the ice from the lamppost making her fingers numb; the tea had undoubtedly been real, and she fancied that she could still taste it somewhat in her mouth.

No, she thought, it was real – and she was going to prove it too.

Silently, Lucy slipped the covers off of herself and reached under the bed to find her boots; if she was going out in the snow again, she was going to make sure that her feet weren't cold this time. Once she had slipped them on, she climbed out of bed, pulled on her dressing gown and set off in search of the wardrobe once more.

* * *

Edmund yawned as he came out of the lavatory, rubbing at his eyes tiredly. He was still feeling rather angry about how Peter had yelled at him earlier: it just wasn't fair – he'd only been joking! Besides, it wasn't his fault that Lucy was stupid enough to make up and then believe in an imaginary world in some musty old wardrobe – she had to grow up soon, whether she liked it or not.

He heard a creak of floorboards and halted; when he squinted into the darkness, he saw a tiny figure walking down the corridor, huddled in a pink dressing gown. It could only be Lucy – none of the others were that small – and to make things even better, he realized she was heading in the direction of that wardrobe.

Edmund smirked to himself; he just couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease her further about this imaginary land in her head. Making sure to be quiet, he followed after her at a short distance behind and planned just what he could do to frighten her.

* * *

The last thing Peter wanted was to be woken up at Lord knows what time in the early morning to his youngest sister jumping on him and giggling excitedly – and yet, that was exactly what was happening right at this moment.

"Peter, Peter! Wake up! It's there, it's really there!"

Peter groaned as he rolled over, not even opening his eyes. "Lucy, what are you talking about?"

Susan and Eleanor entered the boys' room, both of them looking rather dishevelled from being woken up, and watched as Lucy begun to chatter excitedly.

"Narnia! It's all in the wardrobe, like I told you!"

Susan let out an annoyed sigh as she tied her dressing gown. "You've just been dreaming, Lucy."

"But I haven't!" Lucy exclaimed happily. "I saw Mr Tumnus again! And this time, Edmund went too!"

No one had noticed Edmund slip into the room, but now that Lucy mentioned him they all turned to look at him in surprise. Out of all of them, he would have been the most unlikely one to pretend with Lucy.

"You…You saw the faun?" Peter asked in utter disbelief.

Edmund said nothing, looking away and shaking his head. Lucy stood up from Peter's bed. "Well…he didn't _actually_ go there with me. He…" Her smile faded as she realized that she actually didn't know for herself what her brother had been up to, and she looked at him curiously. "What _were_ you doing, Edmund?"

They all stared at him once more, extremely interested in what his answer would be. He simply looked at each of them and swallowed before finally speaking. "I…I was just playing along," He said, shrugging his shoulders. Lucy looked between her two brothers, extremely hurt and in disbelief. "I'm sorry, Peter. I shouldn't have encouraged her, but…you know what little children are like these days. They just don't know when to stop pretending." And his mouth turned up into a smirk.

This was the final straw for Lucy, and the tears she'd been attempting to hold in spilled down her cheeks as her face screwed up; without another word, she ran from the room, her cries echoing in the corridors.

Peter gave a huff, rolling his eyes as he clambered out of bed and reached for his robe; as he passed Edmund, he gave him a sharp push that sent him falling back onto his bed. Susan followed after her brother, looking rather worried as she left the room. Eleanor hesitated for a moment before deciding that it was best to go with Peter and Susan; she felt far easier around them than she did around Edmund, mostly due to the fact that he had been rude and confrontational since they'd all arrived at the professor's house. No, it was best to follow Peter and Susan, to help them find the younger girl.

Meanwhile, Lucy had been running down the corridor, crying loudly as the hurt and betrayal of what her brother had said washed over her. As she turned a corner, however, she found that she walked straight into someone; when she raised her eyes, she realized that it was a rather elderly gentleman with glasses and a kind face. Without thinking, she buried herself into his robe and continued to sob.

Seconds later, Peter, Susan and Eleanor appeared; all three of them stopped at the sight of Lucy embracing the old gentleman, suddenly awkward and uncertain of what to do next. Given his age and appearance, it seemed that they had just run straight into Professor Kirke, a man who they had not seen at all since they had arrived.

" _You children are one shenanigan shy of sleeping in the stable-_!"

Mrs Macready came hurrying down the corridor, her hair loose, glasses askew and still tying a rather flowery robe around herself; she too stopped short at the sight of the professor, her eyes widening.

"Professor," She said, much quieter now. "I'm sorry...I told them, you were not to be disturbed..."

"It's alright, Mrs Macready, I'm sure there's an explanation," The professor mused before glancing down at a still-tearful Lucy. "But first of all, I think this one is in need of a little hot chocolate."

Mrs Macready hesitated slightly before putting an arm around Lucy and leading her away towards the kitchen. "Come along, dear."

Silently, the three older children glanced at each other and turned to make their way back to their rooms, hoping that they had been unnoticed; the best thing to do now would be to let the adults take care of Lucy and wait until morning before attempting to settle things again. As they started to walk away, however, the professor cleared his throat loudly and waited for them to turn back to face him.

"I think it best we discuss things in my office. If you'll follow me."

* * *

The children watched as the professor sat down behind his desk and put some tobacco into his pipe; after a moment, he glanced up at them and spoke. "You seem to have upset the delicate internal balance of my housekeeper."

"We're very sorry, sir," Peter apologized immediately before taking Susan by the arm while his other hand tugged at the sleeve of Eleanor's robe. "It won't happen again."

Eleanor shot him a baffled look, and he immediately dropped his hand; Susan, meanwhile, pulled her arm from her brother's grip and turned back to the professor. "It's our sister, sir," She explained, gesturing to Peter and herself. "Lucy."

"The weeping girl," The man stated.

"Yes, sir... She's upset."

"Hence the weeping," Professor Kirke said dryly.

"It's nothing," Peter insisted hurriedly. "We can handle it."

"Oh, I can see that." The professor's tone was rather sarcastic.

Susan gave her brother an exasperated look before turning to the professor once more. "She thinks she's found a magical land, in the upstairs wardrobe."

Immediately Professor Kirke seemed to light up, every part of his body lifting with excitement as he stood up and approached the children from around the desk - he seemed so much younger all of a sudden. "What did you say?"

As he ushered the three of them over to the sofa in the corner of the room, Peter was somewhat confused. "Um... The wardrobe, upstairs - Lucy thinks she's found a forest inside," He clarified, taking a seat between Susan and Eleanor.

"She won't stop going on about it," Susan sighed.

"What was it like?" Professor Kirke asked eagerly, taking the seat opposite them.

"Like talking to a lunatic!" Susan said, exasperated.

"I wouldn't say 'a lunatic'," Eleanor added hurriedly. "But she _was_ strangely adamant about it, I'll admit."

The professor waved a hand, somewhat impatiently. "No, no, no, not her - the forest."

"You're not saying you believe her?" Peter questioned incredulously.

"You don't?" Professor Kike retorted, raising a brow.

"Well, of course not!" Susan stated, as if it were obvious. "I mean, logically it's impossible!"

The professor sat back on his perch, shaking his head to himself. "My... What do they teach in schools these days?..."

"Edmund said they were only pretending," Peter said slowly.

"And he's usually the more truthful one, is he?"

Peter and Susan were quiet as they considered the question; they had known both Edmund and Lucy their entire lives, and out of the two it was all too easy to say who was the more honest. Even Eleanor, who had known the Pevensies for little more than a day, felt as though she knew which one of the younger two were more likely to tell the truth.

"No," The blonde admitted. "This would be the first time."

"Well, if she's not mad and she's not lying, then _logically_ …" His gaze flickered to Susan, somewhat bemused. "We must assume she's telling the truth."

As the Professor lit his pipe, the three children looked at each other dubiously.

"You're saying that we should just believe her?" Peter questioned.

"It sounds like nothing more than a childish fantasy," Eleanor agreed.

But the professor just smiled, sitting back on his perch and taking a puff of his pipe before speaking. "Well… She's your sister, isn't she? You're a family."

Eleanor looked between the other two and the old man somewhat uncomfortably. "I'm not their… We're not..."

But he merely waved his hand, as though it didn't matter. "Regardless, perhaps you should all try to keep yourselves more open-minded – I think you'd be rather surprised at what you might find!"

The three were still rather unconvinced as the professor sent them away to go back to bed, quietly talking in hushed voices so that they didn't wake anyone in the house up. They arrived outside of the girls' room first, and Peter stopped in the doorway to quickly speak to Susan; Eleanor cast them both a glance, clearly curious and wanting to listen in, before deciding it was best to head to bed – it was none of her business, after all, and she _was_ exhausted.

Once she had gone, Peter sighed. "So…what do you think we should do about Lucy?"

"What do you mean?" Susan looked exasperated with her brother. "Peter, you know there's nothing in the wardrobe – we've searched it and there's nothing but coats and mothballs."

"I know, but she's so adamant that it's the truth," He stated. "She's never been this insistent about any other imaginary games, and she's never been one to lie. It just seems so unlike her."

His sister just huffed, turning to go into the bedroom. "I'll admit, this is strange for her, but there's no proof whatsoever that it exists. The less we encourage her the better. Anyway, I'm going to bed before the Macready catches us again – goodnight, Peter."

* * *

The next afternoon had brought warm weather and sunshine; eager to spend some time outside, the children had decided to set up a game of cricket a short distance away from the house. The only one who didn't take part was Lucy, who had instead chosen to sit underneath a tree with a book whilst sulking; she was still hurt and angered by the fact that no one believed her, and she'd refused to speak a word to any of the older children whatsoever since the previous night.

As Peter and Susan finished setting up the cricket equipment, Eleanor had wandered over to the tree and attempted to persuade the girl to join them. "I think I'd prefer to sit and read too – I'm awfully clumsy, can't catch a ball to save my life! But it's just a bit of fun… I think your sister and brothers would like it if you played."

Lucy had said nothing, staring down at her book resolutely.

"Maybe just one game?" The older girl tried again uselessly. "You can read your book after, if you like."

She received no response at all; feeling it was a rather pointless venture, she sighed and stood up to go back to the others. As she walked back across the grass, Peter's gaze flickered between her and his younger sister, expression falling for a moment; she sent him a sympathetic look, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"So, it's just the four of us," Peter sighed before forcing himself to smile again. "Alright – two-versus-two then. Why don't Susan and I play against Ed and Eleanor? Here, I'll bowl first."

It soon became apparent, however, that Edmund's mind wasn't focused on cricket at all; his eyes seemed to be drawn to the house, not paying much attention to their game – so much so that he didn't realize his brother had pitched the ball until it hit him in the leg.

"OW!"

"Whoops!" Peter laughed, and both girls had to hide their grins at how insincere he sounded. "Wake up, Dolly Daydream!"

Edmund huffed, glaring at his brother. "Why can't we play hide-and-seek again?"

"I thought you said it was a kid's game," Peter stated, catching the cricket ball as Susan threw it to him.

"Besides," She said optimistically. "We could all use the fresh air."

"It's not like there isn't air inside," The boy quipped dryly; her smile vanished.

Peter, meanwhile, seemed to be growing bored of waiting. "Are you ready?" He called over impatiently, tossing the cricket ball between his hands carelessly.

"Are _you_?" Edmund shot back challengingly, hitting his bat against the ground.

Straightening up, not wanting to be outdone, Peter narrowed his eyes and pitched the ball fast; t bounced off the ground, and then Edmund swung his bat at it as hard as he could. The ball was sailing through the air at top speed, further away from them – and straight towards the professor's house.

"Oh no," Eleanor whispered.

All of the children could only stare in horror as the cricket ball flew straight into one of the windows with a loud crash.

* * *

They found the ball in the professor's library, only to find that it was much worse than they had anticipated; not only had the window smashed, but the ball had also hit a suit of armour and knocked it over completely. For a moment, the children could only stare at the suit in silence and trepidation.

Finally, Peter turned to his brother. "Oh, _well done_ , Ed!"

"You bowled it!" Edmund retorted defensively, though he looked rather worried.

" _What on Earth is going on up there?!_ "

The five children looked around at each other in panic at the sound of a voice coming down the hallway. "The Macready!" Susan exclaimed.

"Come on!" Peter urged; the other four quickly followed him, running out of the library and into the corridor outside. First they attempted to escape up the stairs, only to hear fast footsteps approaching; turning back around, they made their way around a corner. Peter went to open the door to a room, only to halt suddenly; after a moment, they could hear more footsteps rapidly coming to meet them. He turned to the others and muttered, "she's faster than she looks!"

It seemed that everywhere they tried to escape, the Macready was one step ahead of them; it was only when Edmund was able to open a door that they managed to rush into a room. To everyone's dismay, it was the room with the wardrobe.

"Come on!" Edmund said impatiently, opening the wardrobe door.

"You've got to be joking," Susan huffed, clearly annoyed.

But the footsteps were coming closer once again – they didn't have a choice. Peter ushered everyone inside quickly before clambering in behind them, carefully closing the door open so that it wasn't shut completely (for only a complete fool would lock oneself in a wardrobe). "Get back, get back!"

There was a great deal of pushing and shoving as they all attempted to hide further in the wardrobe, tripping over moth balls and forcing coats aside.

"Get off me!"

"Ow!"

"Will you stop shoving?!"

"Stop pushing, I can't-"

With a great surge, the children stumbled; the older three children found themselves falling backwards, landing in what appeared to be white powder of some kind. It took them a long moment to realize that their clothes were suddenly wet, and that they were surrounded by branches instead of coats.

"You don't think…?" Eleanor muttered in disbelief.

Carefully, trying not to stagger over each other, they clambered up from the floor and looked around in wonder: before them, as far as the eye could see, was a forest covered in snow and ice.

* * *

 **Comments greatly appreciated! :D**


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